Digital solutions supporting the quality of life of European cancer patients and their caregivers: a systematic literature review

Abstract

ObjectivesIn this systematic literature review, we tackle the urgent topic of supporting the quality of life of cancer patients and their caregivers. We focus on the current situation in Europe, (a) depicting the existing published research in electronic solutions that have been proposed in the last decade to ease the everyday life for adolescents and adults’ cancer patients, and (b) investigating the scientific evidence of their usability and effectiveness. We then outline current perspectives and future outlook on the ongoing and emerging digital interventions to be proposed among practitioners, cancer patients, and their informal caregivers.MethodsWe have collected peer-reviewed journal articles from 3 main databases, namely Embase, Scopus and PubMed, searching for non-pharmaceutical digital solutions and digital interventions for improving the quality of life of individuals living in the European Union (UE) that have been diagnosed with any type of cancer at any stage of treatment, and for easing the burden of their informal caregivers. After the last search was performed (January 2024), according to our inclusion/exclusion criteria, we analyzed only articles written in English whose full text was available, assessing their quality according to mixed methods appraisal tool (MMAT) and then aggregating them based on their main themes. We finally compared the effectiveness and the adherence to such digital tools, and discussed the main gaps and needs emerged from the analysis. This study is registered on PROSPERO, number CRD42024529592.ResultsOut of the 706 potential records examined, 49 met the criteria for inclusion. As we did not to limit the search to a specific type of study, our work encompasses 31 quantitative randomized control trials, 9 quantitative non-randomized studies, 4 quantitative descriptive studies, 3 qualitative studies, and 2 mixed-methods studies. This inclusive choice allowed us to have both the qualitative perceptions and the quantitative outcomes of such initiatives. The observed findings support both the feasibility as well as the potential of such approaches in experimental settings. The evidence of an enhancement of the quality of life was instead intervention-specific, and strongly linked to the area onto which the digital solutions focused.ConclusionsThis review showed a growing interest in non-pharmaceutical digital solutions aimed at making the life of cancer patients easier, more autonomous and their healthcare more patient-centered. The effectiveness and the rate of adherence of such interventions vary among the included articles, but all the solutions are well accepted among the participants and potentially constitute an essential element that may substantially contribute to the well-being of the inhabitants of the EU diagnosed with cancer.